What is a Social Worker?
Social workers are members of one of the faster growing professions. They are concerned with a wide variety of issues related to personal growth, the development of flexible and positive relationships and the establishment of social justice.
Social work is a profession for those with a spark of idealism, a belief in social justice, and a natural love of working with people. Social work offers the chance to work with and for people of all kinds: rich or poor, white or black, young or old, in hospitals, at home, or at work.
Myth: Social service employees, caseworkers, and volunteers are "social workers."
Fact: A social worker is a trained professional who has a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in social work. All states license or otherwise regulate social work practice. A social service employee, caseworker, or volunteer community worker is not a "social worker" unless he or she has a social work degree.
Social work is concerned with the interaction between the individual and society and involves working with individuals and groups in a diversity of ways from counseling, to community development, to social policies. The ability for individuals and families to achieve a self-satisfying lifestyle is influenced by the social systems and historical times in which those individuals and families live. Social workers develop skills and knowledge promoting empowerment of, and advocacy for, people who experience marginalisation or exclusion from the means to a satisfying life. Governed by principles of equity and social justice, social work practice is based on ethics of inclusivity, participation and an understanding and valuing of difference. To this end social workers seek to ensure that appropriate services and community resources are available to both meet people's needs and provide people with the opportunity to develop their human potential.
Myth: Most social workers work for the government.
Fact: Fewer than 3 percent of all professional social workers work for the federal government. About a third of all professional social workers are employed by federal, state, and local governments combined.
Social Work Practice
Areas of social work practice include: counseling & mediation; welfare & protection of children; aged care; crime & juvenile justice. Social workers work with people across a range of differing needs and social positioning including: Individuals & groups, children and young people, women, men, people with ill health or disabilities, victims and perpetrators of crime or violence and the aged. Social workers may be involved in the development of social policies and agency administration, advocacy for individuals and groups, assessing client needs, connecting clients with appropriate resources; assessing community resources, evaluation of programs and community development. During the course of your studies you could develop you skills with organizations as diverse as United Negro College Fund, American Red Cross, Family and Children's Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Neighborhood Centers and Hospitals.
Review a representative list of local field education sites offered to our student body.
Take the Social Work Profession Quiz
Myth: For therapy you need a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Fact: Professional social workers are the nation’s largest providers of mental health and therapy services. Professional social workers are often the only mental health care providers serving residents of many poor, rural counties. Social work is designated as one of the four core mental health professions under federal legislation that established the National Institute of Mental Health.
Myth: Most social workers are employed in public welfare or child welfare.
Fact: About one-quarter of all child welfare cases are handled by professional social workers. About 1 percent of NASW members works in public assistance. Professional social workers practice in many settings: family services agencies, mental health centers, schools, hospitals, corporations, courts, police departments, prisons, public and private agencies, and private practice. More than 200 professional social workers hold elective office, including one U.S. Senator and four Representatives.
Myth Buster are from the National Association of Social Workers, Inc.